Two photographers with different styles and working in different genres, living in two different cities in the UK paired up to create this project. The connection happened through posting of two quotes that immediately revealed a similar vision or outlook on life.
Photographer 1 – Dean Belcher
Quote: “Life is just a bowl of All-Bran. You wake up every morning and it’s there. So live as only you can. It’s all about enjoy it ‘cause ever since you saw it there ain’t no one can take it away.” – Lyrics from Happy Days Toytown, by the Small Faces.
Photographer2 – Juanita McKenzie
Quote: “To me, photography
is an art of observation. It’s about
finding something interesting in an ordinary place…I’ve found it has little to
do with the things you see and everything to do with the way you see them.” –
Elliott Erwitt
Organic in its Evolution is a project named after the process of collaboration as it unfolded but also describes the essence of our urban environments and their relationship to nature. It reflects our human responses to this constant dance of cycles between the apparent opposites and it speaks of our human desires to have spaces of our own and mark them in some way to defy the transience and isolation of modern and urban life.
Note: Journal reflection on this project can be read here.
This week the focus of our learning was around the changing world of photography, with constantly evolving digital technology, especially the smart phone and it’s link to social media. This has had a tremendous impact on photography and on the associated industries with the rise of the phenomenon of ‘user-generated content’ and citizen journalism.
There were interesting discussions about this in our weekly forum and opinions are varied about whether this is a positive or negative phenomenon. In my opinion the use of smart phones has made photography accessible to most people, breaking down barriers to this medium and encouraging people to explore visual documentary of their lives and the world they live in, as well as being able to share these images.
This leads into citizen journalism which I do believe has its place in these times – modern media seems to have become increasingly more biased and narrow in scope which is why citizen journalism can provide real time, on the ground footage of events that might otherwise not have been shared. The lack of editing and technique gives it a sense of immediacy and gritty realism which can have a strong emotive impact.
On the negative side, there can be an element of sensationalism where people are constructing scenarios, or taking unnecessary risks to get more views or likes. This can lead to a lack of context to the images and also a lack of respect or sensitivity towards the situation being photographed. There have also been a number of incidents where people have died or been injured while taking selfies in an effort to get the best locations or views.
Although I am not interested in selfies or sensationalism, I must admit that I am an avid ‘Instagrammer’ and took to it very readily. Personally, I have had very positive experiences and have found it to be quite valuable in terms of networking and creating an online presence. Instagram’s estimated value, which appears to be rising rapidly, is a reflection of the growth in popularity of this medium as more and more people seek visual content rather than written word. I think professionals have quickly realised that if you are in any way involved in visual media, then Instagram is the platform to be using.
There are many opinions about photographers (some positive, some negative) and they’re not always accurate. The perception of photographers and what they do is heavily influenced by the media and other mainstream ways in which photography is portrayed, for example in news, film and advertising. These are often based on stereotypes, particularly those around gender stereotyping. Sometimes photography is portrayed as being an exciting, adventurous and highly paid profession with an accompanying lifestyle, or it can be portrayed as a ruthless, voyeuristic and dishonest profession.
This excellent video created by Mishka Henner and David Oates looks at the way photographers have been portrayed in film by creating a clever montage. Their introduction to the video is very apt:
“Voyeur, hunter and investigator are just a few of the roles that have characterized the photographer when depicted in modern cinema. In Photographers, hundreds of scenes involving this now ubiquitous character are remixed and re-sequenced to expose the clichés, tropes and accidental truisms associated with the medium. As the sole subject of the film, the photographer is turned from observer to observed.”
Advertising for cameras has always portrayed the camera equipment as being the key to successful photography, however, now more than ever with such rapidly changing digital technologies, there is a constant emphasis on the value of the equipment in creating professional images. The aim is to encourage purchasing and upgrading to new equipment and to do so means creating a hype around the value of the camera, rather than the value of the photographer. This puts tremendous pressure on photographers to keep up with the newest and latest equipment in order to compete with what is out there and also diminishes the value and skill of the photographer.
Smart phone technology has gone hand in hand with the rapid rise in social media use and has created a digital culture of image sharing and content creation. The capabilities of smart phone cameras have been developed to the point that many people no longer use cameras and indeed that’s the way the technology is marketed. There is a tendency for the technology to be marketed in such a way that it implies anybody with a good camera or smartphone can be a good photographer. This has resulted in our day to day lives becoming saturated with average images that can completely obscure real photography and visual arts.
I have chosen to work with digital technology and use a DSLR camera because of the image quality and the immediacy, however, there is a part of me that wants to explore analogue as an artistic medium and return to the older technology for the enjoyment of the process and the distinct style of analogue images. There is a growing trend towards retro cameras with new Polaroid type cameras and other retro styles becoming very popular. Personally, I would prefer the original technologies rather than new versions created to look old as it lacks authenticity.
I have readily embraced social media as a means to showcase photography and have enjoyed the experience so far. I have learned that there is a lot more required than good photography in order to succeed on social media, so this can be challenging initially when starting out. There are many large accounts on social media that are about content creation and I have repeatedly seen that the most successful ones are those that have strong personal branding.
I believe these days it is essential for photographers to have an online presence as this is where the audience is located, and also where the photographer’s work can be found by potential clients. The caution is that it is a highly competitive and saturated market, so it is essential to plan content and share high quality, memorable images that will not only stand out from the rest, but will also showcase the photographer’s personal style.
It is a constantly changing visual world with rapid advancements in digital camera and smart phone technology and the subsequent rise of social media. Photographers could easily become lost amid the constant visual noise so they need to always be creating, adapting and competing in this digital arena. The perceptions are quite often that photographers are not highly skilled and people are not always willing to pay for photographic services or products when they believe they can do just as well themselves.
It really is essential that photographers rethink where they are positioning themselves in the market, what they are offering and how they can adapt to the changing terrain of visual art and technology. It is also vital that photographers think about their personal branding, what visual language they are using and how they are being perceived.
Artistic shot of me photographing street art in the rain. Photo by K.Magro
Having explored the concept this week of photography as an interdisciplinary field, I’ve spent some time reflecting on whether my current photographic practice is interdisciplinary and how I could expand further on this.
I am already focusing on aspects of documentary photography which may have its roots in early interests in journalism and film. Social and cultural commentary are present in my work already and this draws upon earlier studies in psychology. Within my current practice I explore urban art as an integral part of the urban landscape and the social commentary it provides.
I would like to expand my practice by learning more about Fine Art photography and how this can be combined with street and documentary photography to create something more contemporary. I would like to explore surrealism, Bauhaus and expressionism as art movements that could inform, develop and deepen my photographic practice.
My interest in the urban landscape is closely linked to the architecture of places as well as the historical, cultural and geographical elements within these landscapes. Studies and research across all these areas would be extremely useful for contextual research and project development.
Photography as a discipline has changed rather rapidly throughout it’s history and even more so since the advent of digital technology. It has been influenced by a number of different disciplines, such as art, film, and literature. It has also had a strong relationship with technology and, since the early inception of the Camera Obscura to the DSLR and smart phone technologies of today, it has been influenced by the available technologies. As there are so many different photographic tools available, there is a tremendous variance in method, technique, processing and product within the discipline of photography.
Photography has also been used in a number of different ways, making it difficult to define it as a discipline. It has been used by the arts, news, military, science, forensics, research and documentary fields, all with very different purposes and processes. Photography has also been used to create technologies like x-rays and infra-red, that have been used in the fields of medicine or military technology. More recently infra-red has been used artistically by photographers to create stunning, almost otherworldly images that are the result of a the crossover between science and art.
Photography also cannot be separated from the arts, such as fine art, stills, cinema and architecture. Not only has it drawn inspiration from these arts, but it has also influenced them, illustrating the interrelationship between these fields. Anthropology, archaeology and the social sciences have also worked with photography resulting in a relationship between photography and cultural, historical and geographical influences.
As a field photography is an unruly discipline as it refuses to be limited or confined by the boundaries and prescriptions of a single discipline. It is by its very nature an interdisciplinary field that is constantly evolving and dynamically responding to the changing world we live in.
Journey Through the Lens 